The official TrainerRoad thread

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  • pipipi
    pipipi Posts: 332
    faarn - JGSI is the person that I have asked for advice and that I should have recommended you ask, so please ignore my comments but consider his comments very seriously.
    Giant TCR2 and lovin it!
    http://www.trainerroad.com/career/pipipi
  • faarn
    faarn Posts: 52
    JGSI wrote:

    It does not matter if you are using the virtual power as such. You do need to keep that setup consistent however.
    Same resistance setting on the turbo matched to the Trainer Road setting.
    Using the same tyre and psi

    From reading how you did the 8 minute tests, definitely I'd probably suggest that your base fitness could do with improvement.... probably needs more than a 6 week plan to really make an impact... it is a long haul to reach a goal in aerobic fitness but well worth the sacrifice in time.

    The FTP testing is always an unpleasant experience - nature of the beast I''m afraid.
    Even after 2 x 8 minutes you should be able to ride to an intensity and maintain it so that you really do have jelly legs and unfortunately NOT breathing easily at the end of it... that usually suggests to me that you 'blew up' and backed off.
    Thats not a bad thing.it can happen to all of us.. something to aim for then.
    If you really want to hurt yourself try riding to the Sufferfest Long Scream with Trainer Road -- it can be 30 minutes of hell if you have the intensity correct.... just a 10 mile timetrial in the summer months.

    Thanks for the input pipipi and JGSI. I have started on the Sweet Spot Base II - Low Volume and will work through that and the 2 mid volumes (5 workouts a week is the max I can realistically do). You are certainly right that my base fitness could do with improvement, it's been over 10 years since I did any long term high level training! Any more tips on a progressive turbo training plan would be appreciated.
  • jgsi
    jgsi Posts: 5,062
    Not much more I can add - just stick to the plan.. if you can get into the New Year and step up to the medium volume, then that is a goal in itself.
  • 10100110
    10100110 Posts: 17
    Hi all

    I'm currently trying to decide which rollers to go through primarily and only primarily to use with the Trainer Road software.

    At the minute I'm using BKOOL Turbo Trainer which is excellent but it absolutely eats tyres and despite counter arguments I worry about frame stress using it heavily throughout the winter.

    Anyway, I've narrowed it down to the following:

    Elite Arion Digitial Rollers
    SportCrafters OverDrive Pro
    Keitler 3.0

    any others you'd recommend or opinions on the above?

    Ideally I want the best rollers I can get that will give me the best experience with the software including all the stats I need (HR, Power including Virtual, Cadeance, Speed etc) I have everything except a power meter but thats next on the list following this purchase.

    Would appreciate your opinions.

    Many thanks
  • jgsi
    jgsi Posts: 5,062
    The Arion digital rollers use the same construction as my basic Arion rollers (red rollers?)
    They are ok and quiet and stable enough but I would have gone for the aluminium machined rollers if I had had the money as they 'roll' much much better.
    Someone I know uses the ALs, and he says far superior to any turbo trainer for actual bike riding.
    The smaller the rollers the better the experience (harder) so maybe the SportsCrafters?
    The gold standard is - can you get out of the saddle on them? sadly no way for me, despite 6 months of trying.
    My rollers integrate very well within Trainer Road but it does keep the zone work down to a max of tempo work essentially which is no bad thing at all.
  • 10100110
    10100110 Posts: 17
    Thanks for the reply!

    The AL's are definately top of my list primarily as you say for quality and smoothness of riding.

    I'm going to be pretty much exclusively using the rollers for interval sessions on my time trial bike, so luckily I won't need to stand up.

    I would love to buy an Elite Real E-Motion setup but they are so expensive, you could buy an entry level carbon for the price of it which is a big shame as they are alledgedly working on opening it up so third party apps can connect to it. I just don't think I can warrant forking out a grand for rollers but they do look absolutely awesome.

    The good thing about the Kreitlers is they have different roller dimensions which increase / decrease the resistence along with the "head wind fan".

    At the minute I'm heading towards either the Kreitlers or the SportCrafters OverDrive Pro, has anyone got one of these? The Kreitlers seems extremely well made and good reviews, would be good to hear from anyone who has either of these - the main point is adequate resistence for time trial style / interval training and compatibility with TrainerRoad.

    Thanks
  • rozzer32
    rozzer32 Posts: 3,923
    Right now I'm sure the answers are in this thread but I'm being lazy and can't be bothered searching all the pages.

    I'm quite tempted by trainerroad but can someone explain how it all works?

    I have a tacx satori trainer, does it tell you what resistance to put it on? Or does it tell you to change it depending on the workout? As I would be using the "virtual power" I'm sure the resistance setting would affect your power value.

    Also are there training plans to follow on trainer road? And if so can you do them out on the road and then log your data, or do they all have to be on the turbo?
    ***** Pro Tour Pundit Champion 2020, 2018, 2017 & 2011 *****
  • jgsi
    jgsi Posts: 5,062
    rozzer32 wrote:
    Right now I'm sure the answers are in this thread but I'm being lazy and can't be bothered searching all the pages.

    I'm quite tempted by trainerroad but can someone explain how it all works?

    I have a tacx satori trainer, does it tell you what resistance to put it on? Or does it tell you to change it depending on the workout? As I would be using the "virtual power" I'm sure the resistance setting would affect your power value.

    Also are there training plans to follow on trainer road? And if so can you do them out on the road and then log your data, or do they all have to be on the turbo?

    To be brief:
    $10 per month gets you a login and access to the app download to either your PC or now to IOS
    Workout library - 100s including Sufferfests but the videos you need to have purchased from Sufferfest
    Pick a resistance setting on a manual trainer like the Satori and stick with it.. use the gears to lessen or increase the workloading.
    Turbo/rollers only, no facility to include road work.
    You can upload workout data to Strava/Golden Cheetah/Training Peaks... etc etc
    Enough plans in the App to follow with the proverbial s'stick.
    Away you go after doing the initial setup ride aka 20minute FTP testing which the app susses you out as an weakling or ex PTP champ on the rocks. ;-)
  • rozzer32
    rozzer32 Posts: 3,923
    JGSI wrote:
    rozzer32 wrote:
    Right now I'm sure the answers are in this thread but I'm being lazy and can't be bothered searching all the pages.

    I'm quite tempted by trainerroad but can someone explain how it all works?

    I have a tacx satori trainer, does it tell you what resistance to put it on? Or does it tell you to change it depending on the workout? As I would be using the "virtual power" I'm sure the resistance setting would affect your power value.

    Also are there training plans to follow on trainer road? And if so can you do them out on the road and then log your data, or do they all have to be on the turbo?

    To be brief:
    $10 per month gets you a login and access to the app download to either your PC or now to IOS
    Workout library - 100s including Sufferfests but the videos you need to have purchased from Sufferfest
    Pick a resistance setting on a manual trainer like the Satori and stick with it.. use the gears to lessen or increase the workloading.
    Turbo/rollers only, no facility to include road work.
    You can upload workout data to Strava/Golden Cheetah/Training Peaks... etc etc
    Enough plans in the App to follow with the proverbial s'stick.
    Away you go after doing the initial setup ride aka 20minute FTP testing which the app susses you out as an weakling or ex PTP champ on the rocks. ;-)

    Definitely an ex champ on the rocks, wish I could find those legs again :lol:

    OK so I guess there's nothing to stop you following a plan and logging it on strava then with the mix of road and turbo rides.

    Ok that makes more sense, that's what I currently do on it now. Are the workouts quite good then? I normally listen to music on the turbo so would I still be able to do that on the same device or do the workouts have music or what?

    Do you know if you can use the PC and the IOS app? Quite tempted to get an iPad anyway but I'll be waiting till the January sales.
    ***** Pro Tour Pundit Champion 2020, 2018, 2017 & 2011 *****
  • jgsi
    jgsi Posts: 5,062
    https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/trainer ... 24107?mt=8
    I just use on laptop, so not really uptospeed with IOS.
    If you integrate say a Sufferfest, then you do get training bang for your buck.
    One of their myriad of workouts, just follow the power cues and have your tunes playing at same time.
  • jonno101
    jonno101 Posts: 3
    I find it perfect for getting through box sets, almost done Sopranos. dunno what to do next? :D
  • Dippydog3
    Dippydog3 Posts: 414
    jonno101 wrote:
    I find it perfect for getting through box sets, almost done Sopranos. dunno what to do next? :D
    The Wire, which is better than The Sopranos.
    And then do The Shield.
  • jonno101
    jonno101 Posts: 3
    Done the wire ages ago, almost time to re-visit? I'll look into The Shield. ta
  • phil485
    phil485 Posts: 364
    Sufferfest and TrainerRoad, awesome combination.

    Still commuting a lot, so not using it as much as I could but when I do punishing.

    did Rubber Glove last night which was fun...... not

    FTP at 310 though so pleased with that, recovered quite quickly so there may actually be more there.

    Still using an elite fluid trainer and stages crank.
  • Dippydog3
    Dippydog3 Posts: 414
    jonno101 wrote:
    Done the wire ages ago, almost time to re-visit? I'll look into The Shield. ta
    I have watched the whole of the Wire four times. Every time I enjoy it more. Must be tuning into the dialect better or something.
  • iron_duke
    iron_duke Posts: 117
    How long do people find it takes them to recover from an FTP test? Guess it may be a it of a how longs a piece of string type question...

    Did the 8 min FTP test Tuesday afternoon as part of week 7 intermediate built I. Sessions had been going well and feeling the benefits when out on the road, Been managing approx 4 sessions a week between road and turbo. Did Goethe (http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/1285612-Goethe) this morning and was really struggling on the final 10 min interval, drop out in the 3rd interval is an artefact as accidentally restarted at wrong point after pausing to grab my sons breakfast in 4th interval and then couldn't psyche myself out to tough it out after break in concentration.

    Does this suggest my virtual FTP is likely now too high or just need a little more time to recover?

    Thanks for your thoughts.
    http://www.mountain-thyme.com/index.php
  • jgsi
    jgsi Posts: 5,062
    Personally I just use a few guidelines:
    assess a few pointers that may or may not affect 'training'
    sleep quality/stress/fatigue/soreness
    These by the way are out of the old school Cyclists Training Diary which you actually fill in with a pen (remember them things) and may or may not affect the quality of your training.
    Note use of may or may not .. because in training every other sod has an opinion different to your own .. especially in forums ;-) so best to be as vague as possible.
    Ride hard one day, yup you probably will feel it the day after.
    If you are consistently not up to the job in following a power pattern in a workout.. well maybe your threshold number is arbitrarily set too high...
    Looking at your TR career.. maybe fill in some gaps with lower IF rides as a counterbalance.. boring as hell though.
  • Dodger747
    Dodger747 Posts: 305
    On some of the plans, I find it impossible to do some of the workouts after doing an FTP test. For me personally - they are too hard if you do the test to your absolute limit.

    I just do my best to tough it out and stop when needed, then come back to a particular workout in a week or two after adapting to my new FTP level.
    VO2 Max - 79 ml/kg/min
    W/kg - 4.9
  • phil485
    phil485 Posts: 364
    I commuted to work on Thursday morning after doing rubber glove Weds night.
    Legs felt a bit dead a bit like a Monday after a hard club ride.

    I think you just have to listen to your body and put in some low effort rides occasionally.
  • iron_duke
    iron_duke Posts: 117
    Thanks for thoughts.

    Yes some lower intensities rides after hard efforts sounds sensible and don't need to be so prescriptive about adhering to plan. Was interested to see if it tallied with my new FTP when went for it but think from my mindset beforehand I new wasn't really up for it.
    http://www.mountain-thyme.com/index.php
  • jamin100
    jamin100 Posts: 72
    Quick question . .

    I have the garmin spped/cadence sensor and HRM but no ANT+ USB dongle. Just about to order one but does anyone know the range of the smaller garmin ANT+ USB stick?

    My PC is im the front room of my house but the bike and trainer will be in the back room . . will it reach???
  • jgsi
    jgsi Posts: 5,062
    5 metres is about as far I have had the bike and laptop dongle apart. No walls involved.
  • jamin100
    jamin100 Posts: 72
    Thanks
    I reckon its just about 4 maybe 5 meters but there is a wall in between

    i'll just have to see
  • Calpol
    Calpol Posts: 1,039
    I signed up and tried the ftp test last night. I think I will like trainer road. Slightly sceptical about the virtual power reading. It seems too high. Ftp came out at 340 which is higher than I expected.
    http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/1287401-20-Minute-Test

    Anyway it's a start and something to build on. Going to try and do the sessions a week on top of one long weekend ride and a shorter midweek night ride. Should help me emerge from winter stronger than last year.
  • nammynake
    nammynake Posts: 196
    Don't forget to subtract 5% from your 20 minute average power to get your FTP (by definition this is your hourly power), which would be 319 W I think. That's a very decent power and W/kg.
  • gotwood25
    gotwood25 Posts: 314
    I'm 4 weeks in to the 'Novice Competitor High Volume' training plan and it has all been going really well until today. Relatively easy week with a couple of endurance rides and one Vo2 Max (Feather) ride which I went to do today but simply couldn't hit the numbers and had to stop halfway literally about to keel over.

    I completed the ride over target last week so know I can do it, just felt empty today. Anyone else experienced similar, if so what did you do to rectify? Put it down to 'one of those days'?
  • markp80
    markp80 Posts: 444
    jamin100 wrote:
    Quick question . .

    I have the garmin spped/cadence sensor and HRM but no ANT+ USB dongle. Just about to order one but does anyone know the range of the smaller garmin ANT+ USB stick?

    My PC is im the front room of my house but the bike and trainer will be in the back room . . will it reach???
    Er, am I missing something? How will you see the screen to follow the workout?

    Cheetah,
    MarkP
    Boardman Road Comp - OK, I went to Halfords
    Tibia plateau fracture - the rehab continues!
  • jamin100
    jamin100 Posts: 72
    It's a Mac and I have an Apple TV which allows me to stream the contents of the screen to my TV in the living room
  • Dippydog3
    Dippydog3 Posts: 414
    gotwood25 wrote:
    I'm 4 weeks in to the 'Novice Competitor High Volume' training plan and it has all been going really well until today. Relatively easy week with a couple of endurance rides and one Vo2 Max (Feather) ride which I went to do today but simply couldn't hit the numbers and had to stop halfway literally about to keel over.

    I completed the ride over target last week so know I can do it, just felt empty today. Anyone else experienced similar, if so what did you do to rectify? Put it down to 'one of those days'?
    Not sure what kit you are using. If its a turbo and you set up the bike everytime its quite easy to not get the same setup because of wheel pressure or tyre pressure. That happened to me and made a huge difference.
  • gotwood25
    gotwood25 Posts: 314
    Nah using Garmin Vectors so the only change to the setup is me. Woke up this morning full of aches, pains and a bad head so reckon I am going 'full blown' on the cold front. I blame my germ spreading 3 year old.

    Never mind, couple of days off and try again I guess.

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